For parents, the discovery that their child’s difficult behaviour is actually a form of psychopathy is devastating. Psychopathy is widely seen as difficult, if not impossible to treat - and the prognosis for people with psychopathic traits is deeply troubling. Psychopaths make up just 1% of the general population but they are vastly overrepresented in prisons where they are estimated to make up 20% of the population.
Dr Luna Centifanti, a Senior Lecturer in Developmental Psychology at the University of Liverpool, says researchers are zeroing in on the unique traits associated with psychopathy and this greater understanding is opening the door for more targeted therapies.
For more on Dr Centifanti’s research: https://cutraits.wordpress.com/